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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, March 2004, p. 1545-1554, Vol. 70, No. 3
0099-2240/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.70.3.1545-1554.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Morphological and Physiological Changes Induced by High Hydrostatic Pressure in Exponential- and Stationary-Phase Cells of Escherichia coli: Relationship with Cell Death

Pilar Mañas{dagger} and Bernard M. Mackey*

School of Food Biosciences, University of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading RG6 6AP, United Kingdom

Received 10 July 2003/ Accepted 1 December 2003

The relationship between a loss of viability and several morphological and physiological changes was examined with Escherichia coli strain J1 subjected to high-pressure treatment. The pressure resistance of stationary-phase cells was much higher than that of exponential-phase cells, but in both types of cell, aggregation of cytoplasmic proteins and condensation of the nucleoid occurred after treatment at 200 MPa for 8 min. Although gross changes were detected in these cellular structures, they were not related to cell death, at least for stationary-phase cells. In addition to these events, exponential-phase cells showed changes in their cell envelopes that were not seen for stationary-phase cells, namely physical perturbations of the cell envelope structure, a loss of osmotic responsiveness, and a loss of protein and RNA to the extracellular medium. Based on these observations, we propose that exponential-phase cells are inactivated under high pressure by irreversible damage to the cell membrane. In contrast, stationary-phase cells have a cytoplasmic membrane that is robust enough to withstand pressurization up to very intense treatments. The retention of an intact membrane appears to allow the stationary-phase cell to repair gross changes in other cellular structures and to remain viable at pressures that are lethal to exponential-phase cells.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: School of Food Biosciences, University of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading RG6 6AP, United Kingdom. Phone: 441189357229. Fax: 441189357222. E-mail: b.m.mackey{at}reading.ac.uk.

{dagger} Present address: Departamento de Producción Animal y Ciencia de los Alimentos, Facultad de Veterinaria, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, March 2004, p. 1545-1554, Vol. 70, No. 3
0099-2240/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.70.3.1545-1554.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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